11 things to know about Lunar New Year

1. Chinese don't call it Chinese New Year – Contrary to popular belief, Chinese refer to the 15-day festival as Spring Festival or Lunar New Year -- not Chinese New Year.

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2. Traffic is chaos – Each Lunar New Year, travel Armageddon strikes China. More than 3.6 billion estimated journeys will be made throughout the holiday period.

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3. There are 15 days of festivities – Starting January 31, 2014, holiday events such as lantern festivals, bazaars and horse races pack the lunar calendar. This year, the last day of celebrations falls on Valentine's Day.

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4. There are many quirky customs – Lunar New Year custom forbids cleaning -- it's believed to sweep away good luck. Finally, the perfect excuse to slob out.

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5. You can rent a boyfriend – Feeling pressured to get hitched? Nowadays, single Chinese women can rent fake boyfriends online to bring home to appease pushy parents.

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6. Puns are important – Turn the Chinese character for luck (fu) upside down to make "dao," which sounds like "arrival." The character is often attached to doors to bring in good fortune for the new year.

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7. Fireworks frighten monsters – Fireworks are a must for Lunar New Year. Legend says a monster named Nian is easily scared off by loud noises.

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8. Red undies are important – She's sporting the right style for the Lunar New Year. Red underwear is said to ward off bad luck, especially for those marking the arrival of their "benming," or birthday year, as based on the Chinese zodiac.

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9. Sweets are abundant – Sweet eats make for a sweet year. Lunar New Year is the time for traditional desserts such as babaofan or "eight treasure rice" (pictured), nian gao (rice pudding) and cripsy sugar dumplings.

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10. LNY has its own movie genre – Absurd yet (usually) funny "hesuipian" (LNY genre) films are much like Christmas movies -- uplifting holiday comedies with feel good endings. This year's anticipated hesuipian hit, released in Hong Kong on January 28, is called "Hello Babies."

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11. Rules are flexible – While Lunar New Year customs traditionally forbid shoe shopping, there's no need to fret skipping a hot sale you can't bear to miss. Alternative interpretations allow many restrictive holiday superstitions to be conveniently ignored.

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Story highlights

Chinese government expects 3.62 billion people to travel during Lunar New Year

If you were born in the Year of the Horse, red underwear is a must

In China, single ladies can rent "fake" boyfriends to fend off family interrogations